


Out of Water

by raspberrymocha



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Captivity, Dehumanization, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, First Meetings, Gaslighting, Growing Up, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, It’s pretty vague but yeah, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Puberty, Slow Burn, Teen Crush, rated for later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-04-23 10:49:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19149517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raspberrymocha/pseuds/raspberrymocha
Summary: Noctis’s entire world consists of his tank, the men in white, and Ignis.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I meant to post this is May too, but there’s never a wrong time for mermen, I always say.
> 
> Heads up, this contains some vague drowning, as well as some mostly vague mental and physical abuse of a child, that’s going to continue throughout the work.

Noctis’s entire world consists of his little tank, the crowds of people pressing their faces against the glass, and the men in white coats. Ostensibly, he knows that his tank is only a small part of something called an “aquarium”, and that there’s a whole wide world even beyond that. He also knows, from practice, that he can not venture out into it.

He’d tried to escape, once. He’d grabbed the end of the glass, where it opened up into the clear blue sky, and with all the strength in his little body, he managed to haul himself over it. For his efforts, he’d landed on the cold, hard ground, bruised and sore and unable to move. The outside world, it seemed, was full of air, and he could not swim through it. He’d been left flopping around, and trying desperately to crawl away. That’s how Doctor Izunia found him.

Doctor Izunia, like everyone else, has legs. He could stand up straight and move through the air with ease. Everyone except for Noctis, at least. He’s the only person who has a tail. He likes his tail just fine. It’s pretty – all black and gold and shimmering in the sunlight. He just wonders sometimes why no one else has one. There isn’t anyone else like him in the world. He doesn’t have a mother or a father or any sort of family. Only the men in white.

Doctor Izunia is one of these men, and Noctis likes him the best. He doesn’t try to poke him with needles or pull out his scales. He brings Noctis food and talks to him while he eats. He’s the closest thing Noctis has to a family.

“Oh, just look at you.” He’d said. Noctis had heard that tone once before, when a mother scolded her two children for banging on his glass (at least, he assumed she was their mother, because she looked like them). He had the distinct impression that he’d done something wrong.

Before he could reply, however, Doctor Izunia had scooped him up, and placed him back in the tank. His skin had begun to get dry and itchy, so it was a huge relief when the water washed over him.

“Honestly. One would think you’d be more grateful. It was we who saved you, after all. We found you, all alone in the great big ocean and brought you here to keep you safe.”

Noctis doesn’t remember any of this. As far back as he could remember, he had lived in his tank. Still, he supposes this must be true. It would explain how he got here and why his parents aren’t anywhere to be found. He wonders sometimes if they’d abandoned him. Perhaps they’d been horrified to find that their son was not human.

Mostly, he holds on to the hope that his parents are just like him. That they love him. Even though all the evidence seems to contradict that belief. He doesn’t know why, if that’s the case, they’re not around, but he likes to think that they have a good reason.

“Thank you.” Noctis had said, and he meant it. Not just for rescuing him this time, but for everything else, too.

“Think nothing of it.”

The next day, Noctis was moved to a bigger tank with taller walls. He doesn’t know why they bothered, though. He can’t go anywhere, even if he wanted to.

* * *

Noctis’s tank is mostly frequented by little girls begging their parents to let them see the mermaid (even though he’s obviously a boy), and boys who apparently only want to make fun of their sisters. He doesn’t bother with them too much, but every once in a while someone more agreeable comes along – kids his age who want to do more than gawk. It’s nice when they actually stop to talk, then he doesn’t feel so alone. But they never stay long and they rarely come back.

Today, there’s a little boy with sandy blonde hair and big round glasses. Noctis knows, from the movies Doctor Izunia sometimes lets he watch, that people like him are called “nerds”, though he doesn’t know why. He stops in front of Noctis’s tank and looks up curiously before being shuffled away by what Noctis assumes must be his parents.

“Don’t be silly.” The man says “there’s no such thing as merpeople. It’s obviously some kind of publicity stunt.”

This has Noctis frowning. He obviously exists, and he thinks he’s a merman. That’s what the little plaque in front of his tank says, anyway. If that’s not true, then Noctis doesn’t know what he is, or if there are any more of him. Suddenly, he doesn’t feel like playing, and drops his ball in the water with a loud splash. It just kind of floats there, all sad and alone and Noctis has never related more to a rubber ball.

Perhaps the blonde-haired boy senses his discontent. Or maybe he just wants to defy his parents, as so many boys his age seem to. Whatever it is, something draws him back in front of Noctis’s tank.

The exhibit is made of two parts. Underwater, there is one glass panel where visitors can look in, and another, hidden one where the men in white stand, watching and writing on their little clipboards. He doesn’t like being watched as he swims in circles, and avoids that area whenever he can.

He much prefers the second, above ground part, anyway. There, he can feel the sun on his skin, and play with all the toys he has stored up there – gifts from Doctor Izunia. There’s even a little patch of land that he can lay on, if he’s feeling adventurous. There’s sand, and rocks and even a little bit of grass that he likes to run his fingers through. This is where he finds the boy again, leaning over the glass to look down at him.

“You look real enough to me.” He says.

It’s clear from his tone that he doesn’t expect a response, but still Noct leans up to meet him. It’s a little difficult with the new, taller glass, but he manages well enough. “I’m glad you think so.”

The boy’s eyes go as wide as his glasses. “You can talk!”

“Yeah?” Noct doesn’t know why that’s so surprising.

“That so cool.” He’s climbing up on the wall now, straining to get a better look. “Are you really a merman, then?”

“I guess, but- Hey, you shouldn’t do that.”

“It’s fine, I just wanna-“

It isn’t fine, because in the next moment the boy goes toppling over the edge, right into Noct’s tank. The impact of him landing in the water is much louder than the little rubber ball, splashing water into his face.

“Ignis!” A woman wails.

Noctis doesn’t have to wonder what an “Ignis” is. The boy is bigger than him, but Noctis is stronger. It’s easy to grab him by the underarms and haul him to the surface. Still, the boy flails for a bit, before eventually latching into him, as though trying to make absolutely certain he won’t sink again.

“Are you okay?” Noctis asks, but the boy is too busy sputtering to answer.

By now, there’s a crowd gathered around the exhibit, including the couple from earlier, all looking on with varying degrees of horror. Noctis doesn’t pay any attention to them, though. There’s only one way to get the boy back to solid land, so he swims as fast he can to the shore, using all the strength he has in his little arms to pull them both up.

The men in white are gathered on the sand, and one of them snatches the blonde-haired boy up before Noctis has a chance to explain. Doctor Izunia is among them, looking bored by the proceedings, as well as Doctor Besithia. He seems displeased, and that never means anything good for Noctis.

Still, he finds that he doesn’t mind so much. It was worth it, for the small glimpse of gratitude he’d seen on the boy’s face before being whisked away.

* * *

He doesn’t see that boy – Ignis – again for so long that he starts to think he’ll never come back. Noctis wouldn’t blame him, if that were the case. In the meantime, there are half a dozen people with bright lights and cameras. They stand there, talking about him as if he isn’t there. He tries to hide from them, but there’s very little of his tank that isn’t visible from at least one angle.

Eventually, Ignis does show up again, but not outside with the other customers. Instead he’s led through the big metal door the men in white use by none other than Doctor Izunia.

“You have a guest.” He says, as though this is somehow a joke.

Ignis inches closer, eyeing the shoreline warily.

“Hi.” Noctis has never had a visitor before, but this seems like a good way to start.

Ignis blinks behind his glasses. They’re squarer and don’t make his eyes look as big. Then he kneels down, sand dusting his otherwise pristine pants. “I wanted to thank you. You saved my life.”

“I guess?” Noctis isn’t sure what the big deal is. He spends all day in his tank and nothing bad ever happens to him. Then again, Ignis isn’t like him. Not really. “Oh, right.” Noctis says fishing something out his little pile of toys. “These are yours.”

He hands Ignis his glasses – the ones he’d been wearing the day of the incident. They’d fallen off his face in the chaos, and Noctis had held onto them, hoping he’d have a chance to return them. Now that he has the opportunity, it doesn’t seem like Ignis really needs them anymore. Still, it doesn’t seem right to keep them.

Ignis holds the glasses in his hands almost reverently, as though they are something precious. “Thank you.”

He doesn’t say anything else after that, but he doesn’t get up and leave, either. Noctis wonders if he’s supposed to say something now. He wavers for a moment, tail twitching with indecision, then:

“Do you want to play?”

“Play?” Ignis looks taken aback

“Yeah. I’ve got this ball, and these floaties.” To illustrate his point, Noctis hops up on a little inflatable ring. He doesn’t really need it to float, but it’s fun to bounce on. Sometimes, he slides off if it, and that’s fun, too. “Oh, and this.”

He brandishes a little plastic gun – that’s what Doctor Izunia called it, anyway. When he pulls the trigger, a pathetic little spurt of water shoots out of it and lands with a “plop”.

Ignis doesn’t look impressed. Still, he says “Alright. But you have to come up here.”

“Okay.” Noctis agrees readily, climbing up to join him.

They must make a curious sight, sitting side by side in that little strip of land, Noctis’s tail against Ignis’s legs. The aquarium is still accepting visitors and they stop to gawk, but Noctis ignores them like he’s always done. It might even be a little easier with Ignis by his side. Eventually, though, His parents do come to collect him. They seem a little perturbed by their son’s whereabouts, but Doctor Izunia assures them that he “hasn’t taken his eyes off the boys.”

Noctis is used to being alone, but that doesn’t seem to have prepared him for the gaping hole left behind by Ignis. For a brief moment, he’d experience what it was like to have a friend, something he’d always wanted, but never truly felt the loss of. He hopes Ignis come back to visit soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I call this one the montage chapter. It’s all about getting us to where we need to be and establishing the things that need to be established.
> 
> As a heads up, the third part has some more blatant abuse in it. Reader discretion is advised.

Noctis hadn’t expected to see Ignis again so soon, if at all, but he comes back the very next day, and nearly every day after that. Most days, he shows up in the evenings, lugging around a bag that’s bigger than he is and lands on the sand with a loud “thump”.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to come back, either.” Ignis says, when Noct expresses his surprise. “But Mister Izunia gave us these yearly passes. Said they were a token of apology. I guess he feels bad about what happened.”

“You mean _Doctor_ Izunia.”

Ignis frowns. “My dad says there’s no way that man has ever been to medical school.”

Noctis doesn’t understand why he would say that, but leaves it alone.

“Anyway, my parents don’t seem to mind me coming over here, as long as I get all my homework done. As he says this, Ignis pulls a little book out of his bag and drapes it across his lap.

“Homework?”

“It’s schoolwork that you do at home. Oh, I guess you don’t go to school, huh?” Ignis’s lips twitch like he’s said something funny. “It’s… a place you go to learn things – how to read and write and do math.”

“Oh, I can read!” Noctis scrabbles up to join him on the shore. He kicks up stray droplets of water as he does, causing Ignis to squeal and hold his book out as far as possible.

“You can?” He asks, and Noctis doesn’t know why he looks so amazed.

“Sure. Doctor Izunia taught me. Let’s see… that’s a T and an H and…”

“It might help if you sound it out.”

Noctis looks up at him curiously.

“You do know the sounds the letters make, right?”

“Uh…”

Ignis is quiet for a moment, before taking pity on him. “I’ll teach you, but first, I have to find something more interesting for us to read. Maybe something something with mermaids in it.”

“But I’m a boy!”

* * *

There’s a blonde boy peering through the glass, but it’s not Ignis. His hair is too bright for one thing, and he has too many freckles. There’s something familiar in the shape of his face, but Noctis can’t quite place it. He doesn’t say anything – most people don’t – but he doesn’t leave, either. He just stands there, looking lost and alone.

“Hi there.” Noctis knows, from chatting with Ignis, that his voice will be heard even through the thick sheet of glass.

The boy jumps back, clutching his chest dramatically. For a moment, neither of them move. Then, after looking over his shoulder, the boy inches forward again and places a hand on the glass.

“H-hi.”

“I’m Noctis.” He offers up, a sign of peace.

“I know. I-“

“Prompto!”

Behind the boy is the towering figure of Doctor Besithia. He claps a hand on Prompto’s shoulder, and the boy trembles. Suddenly, Noctis realizes where he’s seen those freckles before.

“How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from here?” There’s a hard edge to his voice, something beyond parental concern.

“I was just saying hi.” Prompto mumbles, not meeting his father’s eyes. “I wanted to meet the merman.”

“You… were talking to it?” Besithia scoffs. “Why bother? It’s just a fish.”

Then he’s dragging Prompto away by the arm, the boy sparing him one last longing glance over the shoulder. Noctis only half-registers the scene however. He knows that Doctor Besithia doesn’t particularly like him – or anyone, for that matter. It’s not even new to be called an “it”, but being called a fish leaves a hollow pang Ian his chest. He may not be human, but he’s not a fish, either. He’s a person.

Right?

* * *

Noctis wakes to the feeling of cold water against his skin and gentle hands on his shoulders. There’s a fog in his brain, heavy and disorienting, and it’s all he can do to wrench his eyes open. There’s a blurry shape in front of him, a figure capped in red.

“Napping again?” Doctor Izunia asks, teasing. “That’s just like you.”

Noctis wants to tell him that he’s not napping, that he doesn’t even remember falling asleep. The last thing he remembers is one of the workers bringing him dinner – a bucket full of fresh fish. But he can’t seem to make his lips move. His tongue feels dry and heavy, a dead weight.

Izunia leans over him, a something dangles in front of Noct’s face, shiny and blue. It’s the pendant he always wears – some sort of rock on a thick cord. It glitters in the sunlight, and in Noct’s half-asleep state, it almost seems to be calling out to him. His fingers twitch, as if to reach out for it, but he knows better than to try. Last time, Doctor Izunia had slapped his hands away.

“I’m sorry,” He’d said afterwards. “It’s just that this is very important to me. It was a gift, you see, from my wife, before she passed away.”

He’s too tired to bother, anyway. His body is heavy and sore, and he wonders if he slept in an odd position or something. He doesn’t have a bed, just a pile of plant leaves that isn’t exactly the most comfortable thing in the world. It’s not unusual for him to wake up with aches and bruises that he’s never seen before.

He’s much more comfortable cradled in Doctor Izunia’s arms, feeling the warmth of his body. It’s becoming harder and harder by the second to keep his eyes open.

“It’s okay, little prince. Go back to sleep. I’ll still be here in the morning.” Somehow, it sounds almost like a threat.

* * *

Ignis is sitting in the edge of the tank, with one leg hanging over the side. He’s a far cry from the clumsy little boy that almost drowned all those years ago.

The tank is different, too – larger to accommodate Noct’s growing body, and the tall walls are gone. He can reach out, and rest his arms on the glass and look Ignis in the face. The sun is shining, turning his hair nearly white and highlighting the planes of his face. As he watches, Ignis picks at the red bumps on his face – a recent addition. He’s growing, changing before Noct’s very eyes – his voice deeper and shoulders broader.

He’d come to Noct once, stammering in embarrassment about a class he had to sit through that was supposed to explain what was happening to him. He still refuses to talk about it in any detail. Noctis thinks it must be nice, though. There’s no one to tell him that the things he’s going through, the things he’s feeling, are normal. If they even are normal.

“I hate this.” Ignis mutters. “It look god-awful, and nothing I do seems to help.”

Noctis doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He looks just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: hormones run wild, and Noct is crushing hard.
> 
> Be sure to follow me @raspberryxmocha

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me @raspberryxmocha for more of whatever this is.


End file.
